How Did You Love
by lilmickey2008
Summary: High school stinks. What even stinks is when you are kicked out at the behest of the new celeb in school. Too bad for Jake Ryan, Michael Harris and his new friends are not going to take that lying down.
1. Prologue

**AN: WOW, it's been that long since I last posted on this website. The reason being that I just got a new computer, and I lost the use of the internet for a few years. Anyways, I am now back to writing, and I will try to post with more frequency. As for the stories that are not complete, I will either finish them or not. Now that this little explanation is out of the way, enjoy what I thought up.**

NOTE: Characters here are around 13 years old.

Chapter One: Prologue

It is a curse to be shy. You feel uncomfortable around some or most people, and whenever there was something big going on, at school or work, that person would most likely try to be regulated to the sidelines and be happy just to stay there for the duration of whatever is going on. You miss out on a lot of things, like dances, parties, and things like that.

Most importantly, you miss out on love. Michael Harris had to figure that out the hard way. He had had d few crushes on some girls in his short lifetime, but he would watch as they were taken by guy that were almost the opposite of who he was, mostly jocks. He was average for a teenager. He didn't have anything about him that made him stand out from the other teens that went to school with him at Seaview High. He had blonde hair that he sometimes had to pull into a ponytail, glasses that helped him see things more clearly. So, case in point, he looked a like every other teenager his age.

There were times that Michael's older brother, and his caretaker, Charles was legibly worried about his younger brother at times. He confided in Robby Ray when the three first moved out to Malibu that he thought that there was something mentally wrong with Michael. Michael was a borderline genius, but he had trouble hanging out with some other teens his age.

That was early on once they got out to California. As the time went on, he befriended both of Robby Ray children, Jackson and Miley. While he was friends with Jackson, it was Miley that Michael was the most attached to. He hung out with her and her friends, Lilly and Oliver. He knew right off the bat that she was Hannah Montana, and that made things between them seem like it was going to be more than friendship. That was the way that it looked like it was heading towards.

Then Jake Ryan showed up.

* * *

It was the end of the school day, and Michael was at his locker getting ready to head home. He got the books and work he needed, then stored what he didn't need back in his locker. He shut his locker, and turned around to see a sight that he had gotten used to.

As usual, almost every girl in his age group were fawning over Jake as he stood across from where Michael was. What really drove him up the wall, was that Miley was standing with her back to the wall, almost drooling over Jake like the rest of the girls were doing.

"It's disgusting." Michael heard Oliver said joining him at his locker.

"I know it is." Michael agreed with his friend.

"Just what does Jake has that we don't?" Oliver asked Michael. Michael did not answer his friend right away. He adjusted his glasses on his face, then continued to stare at the group of girls that were all but throwing themselves at Jake. This was something that he did often, and every time that he watched Jake get the attention of the girls his age, he made him hate and resent Jake even more. Once he was drawn out of his little hate cloud, he turned back to Oliver to answer his question.

"Fame, fortune, looks, and almost every girl in school wanting him." Michael said, counting the things down on his fingers.

"Mike, that was a rhetorical question." Oliver said.

"I know. Still sucks that it is true." Michael said. He sighed unhappily and began to the exit of the school. "Later man."

"Later man." Oliver said. He watched Michael leave, and then headed home his own way.

* * *

The trek home seemed to calm him down, because once Michael reached his house, he kind of forgot what made him pissed off in the first place. He unlocked his door and hung his Cardinals jacket of the door. He then went to the kitchen to get himself a snack, and saw his stepsister Melody there, already stuffing her face.

"Boy, the girls really were throwing themselves at Jake today." Melody said.

"The crap is getting beyond tolerable." Michael answered, grabbing an apple out of the fridge and biting into it. "He has only been in a few crappy movies, and now almost all of the girls in the school want to bang him."

"Gross, not all of the girls want to bang him." Melody replied, referring to herself.

"I wasn't talking about you, Melody." Michael said, taking a seat at the table across from her. "You do know who I was talking about though."

"I know that you have a thing for Miley, and it sucks for you that Miley only has eyes for Jake." Melody said with a shrug.

"I just want to move on from Miley and Jake, but every time that I do, I find myself still feeling something for Miley." Michael said, a pinch of sadness in his voice.

Melody sighed and scratched the back of her neck. "Bro, I don't know what to tell you."

"I figured that. I just need to be alone with my thoughts." Michael said. With a sad and heavy sigh, he left the kitchen, and headed up the stairs to his own bedroom.

* * *

Sunset came, and Michael found himself walking around the beach area by himself. Michael did that when he needed to think, and when he was bored. Michael was the latter, bored. His flip flops in his hand, he walked around to where Rico's surf shack was, and he heard some voices. Now, the beach was kind of on the empty side, which would explain his urge to turn and leave. He was close to whoever the two were, and their voices were familiar.

It was Miley and Jake. This felt like a conversation that he should hang around and hear. He stayed out of view and listened closely to the discussion that was going on.

"So, what is this I hear about your liking Michael Harris?" Jake asked Miley.

"I don't like him." Miley said, with kind of a frustrated voice. "he was just a kid I pretended to be friends with because my dad was friends with his older brother. I even had to befriend his sister because of my dad. She's cool, but not like Michael."

"Well, I don't like him either. He looks like a geek." Jake laughed.

"He does look like it, especially with those glasses on." Miley laughed with him. "From what I heard, he was actually put into a nuthouse. Can you believe that?"

"So, he is a nerd and he is crazy?" Jake laughed, bringing Miley closer to him.

Michael was listening to this, and his emotions were going from anger because someone he considered his friend was bad talking him behind his back, and heartbreak because someone he had feelings for did not feel the same way. She was also talking about his past as if it was no big deal what he went through as a child.

Michael was going to turn and leave, but he saw one last thing. Jake leaned in, and kissed Miley on the lips.

Michael breath hitched, and he felt as though his heart was breaking. That sent him running all the way back home.

* * *

Michael got home not even ten minutes later. He saw that his brother was home, which was bad, because after what he heard and witnessed, he really did not want to talk to anybody right now. He snuck into his house, and quietly made his way up to his room. He was able to get there without running into either Charles or Melody questioning him about where he was or where he went. That meant that they were either asleep, or busy doing something else and could not be bothered.

He stripped out of his clothes, changed into his white pajamas with a black dragon on the right leg of the pants, and just slid into the bed.

He thought that his bad day was going to be over once he fell asleep, but things were going to get worse.

* * *

Michael's eyes snapped open, and he was met with Melody's blue eyes.

"Yes?" Michael yawned, sitting up in the bed.

"What did you do?" Melody whispered, looking back to the door.

"What are you talking about?" Michael asked, still trying to wake up.

"Charles is on the phone with the school. They are trying to kick you out for some reason." Melody said.

"What!?" Michael almost screamed. Now he was awake, and on his feet. "Why!?"

"I don't know. That's all I heard." Melody said. Michael was trying to go downstairs, but his phone rang. Sighing irritably, he grabbed it and answered it.

"Oliver, this is a really bad time." Michael said.

"I know. Lilly told me that Jake is making a big stink about you in school." Oliver said. "He's saying that he doesn't feel comfortable with you being at the school."

"My brother is on the phone with the principal now. He is probably telling Charles I am being kicked out of the school." Michael said.

"Can they do that?" Oliver asked.

"I Don't know." Michael said. Then they heard Charles hang up the phone, and yell for them to come downstairs.

"I'll call you back." Michael said, hanging up. He motioned for Melody to follow him. The two walked into the kitchen, and saw Charles standing in the middle of the floor, looking more sad than angry.

"What happened?" Melody asked.

"Bad shit. That's what happened." Charles said. "The school has an honor code, and due to the fact that I didn't mention Michael being institutionalize, they had the grounds to kick him out."

Melody looked at him in shock, but Michael looked stoic. He knew that there was more here.

"What else?" Michael asked his brother.

I just got off the phone with Marie, and she says that she wants you to move out there." Charles sighed. Marie was the eldest of the Harris siblings, and she was basically the mother of the brothers. She didn't want Michael living in California and wanted any reason to get him back home. Thanks to Jake, she just got it.

"I hope that you said no." Michael said.

"I tried. I flat out begged her, but she wasn't hearing it." Charles said.

"Michael's leaving?" Melody said, almost on the verge of tears. Michael ran a hand over his face, as his brother weakly nodded, and made his way up the stairs. He went into his computer desk drawer and pulled out a slip of paper. He quickly dialed the number and waited for a voice on the other end.

"It's me. Things are getting ugly, and I need a place to lay low for a while." Michael said. "I don't know for how long, but I am not staying with my sister."

"Alright. Thanks." Michael said, hanging up the phone.

* * *

Miley kind of felt like something was happening, or something was wrong, because the minute she arrived at school, she saw everyone huddled together with their friends and whispering. She saw Lilly at her locker and walked over to her.

"what's going on?" Miley asked her.

"Charles was just here. He got into a shouting match with the principal." Lilly said.

"About what?" Miley asked, even though she had an idea just what about.

"Michael, I guess." Lilly answered. "Jake said something about not feeling safe with Michael in the school. They wanted to keep Jake happy, so they put Michael out of school."

Miley connected the dots and realized that what she said to Jake probably was what got Michael put out of school. She then pulled Lilly to the side and whispered to her.

"Don't tell anybody, but all of the stuff that Jake knows about Michael, I told him." Miley whispered.

"you did!?" Lilly almost shouted. "Why?"

"I don't know. I felt that Jake didn't like him, and in order to get him to like me, I just kind of talked down to him about Michael." Miley said sheepishly.

"Mike's gone now, so that might be because of what you said to Jake." Lilly said.

"God, how do I make this right?" Miley asked.

"I don't think you can." Lilly said.

* * *

The time for Michael to leave came after almost a week of preparation. Melody couldn't believe that Michael was going to leave. She saw him pack as if he was going on a trip. The rest of the stuff he had was going to be sent once he got settled. He showed no emotion basically.

She sighed as Charles called them both downstairs, and into the car to take him to the airport.

_I guess that this is it. _Melody thought to herself. _He is out of here._

As they drove out to the airport, Melody could only watch as the boy she thought of to be her brother was getting ready to head out of her life.

For some strange reason, he had this smile on his face, as if he was up to something.

_Don't worry, sis. My friends are going to take care of me. _Michael thought to himself.

* * *

**AN: I hated to end it there, but I think that what else I had in store is better suited off for the next chapter. I have an idea for where the story is going, but I want to keep it under wraps for now. Thanks for reading.**


	2. A New Home

**AN: we saw what happened last chapter, and new we start to see the consequences of what happened last time. Speaking of last time, Michael was kicked out of school because Jake Ryan said that he didn't feel comfortable with someone like Michael at the school. The school did its research and found the grounds to get rid of Michael. Now, we start to see the fallout of that.**

**Chapter Two: A New Home**

It didn't take long for Charles and Melody to drop Michael off at the airport. They stood there long enough to say their goodbyes and watch him board his plane. Once they made sure that he was on the plane, they somberly made their way back to their car and went back home.

"Look, Michael is going to be alright." Charles said as he drove back home. "This is Michael we are talking about. He has been through worse."

"Yeah, and I bet that Marie is going to show that appreciation of having Michael back home by throwing him into the first mental hospital the first chance that she gets." Melody answered.

"Hey, who knows what she is going to do, but in the end, that really is her decision, after all." Charles said. "She is his guardian after all."

"God, with the confidence that you are showing and pride as well, it is no wonder why he got kicked out of school." Melody said sarcastically.

"I am going to chalk that up to you being mad that he is gone, so I am going to let that slide." Charles said, shooting her a look.

"Jake had that much pull?" Melody asked changing the subject. "Jake could have gotten him kicked out of school just because he didn't feel comfortable around him?"

"I doubt it." Charles said. "We know what his past was like, and it also did not help that the school was really anal about certain things. I believe that they looked up Michael's past, and then there was something that they didn't like."

"Now Michael is gone. Just like that."

"Yeah. Just like that."

* * *

After they got home, Charles and Melody went and did their own things. Charles was waiting on Marie to call him and tell him that she picked Michael up. A few hours past, and as Charles was sitting at the kitchen table. Then his phone rang, and he saw that it was his sister calling him.

"Hey, did you get Michael?" Charles asked Marie.

"No. He wasn't on the plane." Marie said, her voice filled with panic.

"Wait, what?" Charles said, getting out of his seat, and knocking his chair over in the process. "What do you mean?"

"I waited at the hanger gate for him and waited until the last stewardess left the gate." Marie said. "Then I went up to the check in gate to ask if they had seen Michael. I hate a current picture of him, and they said that he was not on the plane."

"So where is he now?" Charles asked her.

"I don't know!" Marie said, almost on the verge of tears. "I have some guys out here looking for him, but I just have a really bad feeling about this."

"Bad feeling? Like how?" Charles asked her.

"Like I think that someone got a hold of him." Marie said. "Probably because of something that I did."

"Look, don't think that. I know that he is going to be just fine. I am going to start looking for him on my end, and you keep up the search on your end." Charles said, trying to calm her down.

"Alright. I got to go." Marie said, hanging up.

Charles sat there, and he had to think for a few moments. He saw Michael get on the plane. That plane was headed for St. Louis. He saw it with his own eyes. So that begs the question, where the hell is Michael?

* * *

As the school day ended, Miley had a bad feeling that she could not shake. She walked home and as soon as she got to her street, she saw cop cars were in front of Charles' house, and that her dad was standing on the porch, as if he was waiting on her.

"Dad, what's going on?" Miley asked him.

"From what the cops told me; Michael went missing when he tried to get on his plane." Robby Ray said. "They have been over there for hours. They even questioned Oliver and Lilly."

"Do they know where he went?" Miley asked him.

"No idea." Robby Ray answered. "Did he tell you anything?"

"No." Miley answered. In the back of her mind, she had a feeling that she was responsible for this. She just hoped that Michael was not in trouble, and really hoped that he was still alive, wherever he was. She began to wonder if what she said about him to Jake could have been the catalyst to this whole thing.

* * *

Miley quickly headed to her room, and once she shut the door, she saw that Oliver was immediately calling her.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"Like you don't know what going on." Oliver said, sounding tired and upset. "Cops came by and asked me did I know where Mike went, or if I noticed someone following him and all that."

"Oliver, what did you tell them?" Miley asked.

"there was nothing I could tell. He didn't tell me anything, and I have no idea where he went." Oliver said. "Miley, look. I know that this has something to do with Jake."

"What makes you think that?" Miley asked, getting on the defensive.

"Well, he got kicked out of school because of him. That is going to get out, and then a lot of people are going to have a lot of questions." Oliver said.

"Oliver, I do not know what happened to Michael." Miley said.

"Alright. I am just giving you a heads up. You better think about what you are going to say, because they are going to question you next." Oliver said, hanging up soon after.

Miley threw her phone on the bed and sat down on it as well. She had a lot to think about. One of those things was her relationship with Jake. She really liked him, but with the way that he allowed the girls to throw themselves at him she wondered if he really liked her back.

Now with Michael missing, she wondered if she chased away a guy who legitimately had feelings for her.

If anything happened to Michael, she would not be able to live with herself.

* * *

This…was weird.

Michael was gone. His friends and family had no idea where he went. To make matters worse or even more questionable, it seemed as though he did not want to be found. The cops went through his room and looked through everything. Just to see if there was a hint of something that would tell them where he went. When the cops checked his computer, they found that it was wiped clean. That meant two things right there. One, whatever was on that computer would have led to them finding Michael. Two, someone wiped that hard drive to prevent people from finding anything.

So, as things looked right now, Michael was missing, or he wanted to be missing for some strange reason. Until more information was brought to light, all people were left to do was speculate.

* * *

**NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK**

US Marshall Louis Saint was quietly working in his office when he received a call from one of his guardian's best friends, Kate. Kate was nice. A bit off the wall at times, but nice. She would get into trouble that he would have to bail her out of. He cared about her as a friend, but that is all that their relationship went to.

"Yes, ma'am." Louis said.

"Okay, so I might have done something really bad." Kate said.

_Damn this woman sometimes. Wonder what the hell did she do this time. _Louis thought to himself.

"Alright, what happened, and what did you do?" Louis asked with a sigh.

"I need you to come by my place, and do not bring David with you." Kate said.

"Okay, what's going on?" Louis asked her.

"Listen. My dead friend's youngest son got kicked out of school, and I told him that he could come stay with me." Kate said.

This being Kate, he knew that there was more.

"What else?" Louis asked knowing there was something else coming.

"Well, the way he did it, now people are thinking that he might have been kidnapped." Kate said. "it also does not help that his older sister is a cop, and that alone might draw the feds into this."

"Wow." Louis said, chuckling a little bit.

"This isn't funny. I don't know what I am doing!" Kate yelled at him.

"Like that ever stopped you from doing stuff like this before." Louis said.

"Please. I need your help." Kate all but begged.

"You are a magnet for trouble, you know that?" Louis said, sighing. "Fine. What is the kid's Name, if I might ask?"

"Michael Harris."

* * *

**AN: Sorry for this being on the short side, but I figured that it would be best to end the chapter there. Next time, Michael meets his new friend, and his best friend. If you have been following my story, it won't be a mystery as to who I am talking about. Thanks for reading.**


End file.
